Monday, November 11, 2013

Both the 8 and 10 PM hours of AC360 were anchored by Anderson Cooper from the airport in Manila. The plan was that he would be in Tacloban by program time but his plane was turned away because of weather and had to land back in Manila. The satellite signal was in and out so Wolf began the program and later Randi Kaye filled in when the signal was down.
Anderson spoke with storm chasers Jim Edds and James Reynolds, Jacquelyn Branscomb, Richard Gordon (Red Cross), Tacloban's mayor and Chad Myers gave the latest weather report for the Philippines. Various reporters on the ground in the stricken area also filed reports throughout the 2 hour broadcast.

2 comments:

I got to 360 about five minutes late and saw Wolf Blitzer anchoring. Thanks ATA for the explanation about Anderson being stuck at the airport. It's great to have Anderson in the Philippines and tomorrow no doubt, he'll be in Tacloban or another area hit hard by Haiyan.

I did check out Hayes and stayed there for his segment on the '60 Minutes' Benghazi debacle. I was hoping Blitzer would have said something about this but those hopes were dashed when he disappeared and Randi Kaye took his place. Maybe the Bulletin mentioned '60 Minutes' but I missed it. (Hayes covered Haiyan in his second segment.)

There were a few technical glitches; not surprising under the circumstances. The show logo in the commercial bumpers were not 'AC360' but 'Typhoon Haiyan - Ruin and Rescue'. That drove home the point that other news would not be covered.

Out of all the discussions with various reporters, the best segment was Anderson interviewing Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez on how he survived and the conditions in his city.

The best segment with another reporter was late in the show. Anderson talked to Anna Coren and while some of the comments regarding the destruction, death and difficulties were similar to what other reporters said, what made her segment stand out for me was the map. A MAP!!! Maps need to shown every time there's an international story, it might help make a dent in American's geographic ignorance. It was a map of the Philippines with the capital Manila and several other cities, including Tacloban, indicated. It woudl have been perfect if there was also a map showing the location of the Philippines in the world.

Tuesday and Wednesday will likely be entirely about Haiyan. If and/or when the '60 Minutes' Benghazi debacle is covered, I honestly don't expect it to be as good as Jon Stewart's piece on it. Of course, I don't expect Jon Stewart on the ground in Tacloban either.

Don't know if AC will be able to get into the more devastated parts of the Philippines to see the damage close up--the pictures of the devastation are jaw-dropping. I hope more aid can get to the people who need it and fast but delays are inevitable given the magnitude of the storm and its after effects. It's not surprising that Haiyan is being called history's largest storm--it really does look as though it has dwarfed the tsunami in Indonesia and the Fukushima quake. AC is right about Paula Hancock's reporting so far--top notch.